Often a word or phrase spins around in my head for a time, a word that shimmers. Then when I’m composing this word slips into the melody. This is in the eary stages. After that I come back to sift through the words to try to make the entire lyric coherent, to make the words point towards the same theme or idea.

Lyrics are the most important part of songwriting for me. Lots of songs can be ruined by poor lyrics. I’ve written poems and even a draft of a novel but it’s the interplay between lyrics and melody that has been a constant fascination in my life.